The Whistling Demon
by Lucy Morningstar
Summary: Someone is whistling a familiar song. But who? One-shot. Surreal.


DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is all Rumiko Takahashi's. :(

Sukiyaki performed by Kyu Sakamoto

Lyrics copyright of EMI Music Publishing

Written by Rokusuke Ei

A/N: I love Sesshoumaru, but yeah, like he cares.

**The Whistling Demon**

Something odd happened to me some time ago. It is so odd that to relate to you this feels even odder. Actually the word "odd" itself is odd. Strange then. No. Baffling? Mystifying? Abominable? Abominable? Alright. I am rambling. I know. No need to tell me of these things. Hmm.

Please excuse my atrocious handwriting. I am not well-trained in writing using my left hand. It takes quite some time to produce a string of words, and painstakingly so. In fact by the time I am finished writing with this sentence-yes this sentence-a hen would have laid fourteen eggs.

I wonder. How long does it take a hen to lay one egg? And what is the maximum number of eggs can a hen lay?

I am suddenly troubled by these trivial yet trifling questions. I can only assume by the speed of my writing. For example, say three eggs consume the same amount of time taken to write the word "odd".

Ah yes, my story. Where was I? Oh, I have not even started on it yet. I must stop bumbling and talking nonsense. Do be informed that I am actually a serious and level-headed person. I am sure you all know better. With that in mind, I will now proceed with the story without further ado.

(Took me only seven eggs for that last sentence, I must be getting better.)

~0~

As usual that morning I was taking a long walk. Nothing like a good exercise for the legs and fresh cool air for the lungs. I have been taking long morning walks everyday since I was 20. I was young then and was still under adult supervision. By the time I was in my 70s, I could go as freely as I wanted, but not without informing the castle guards first. It doesn't matter where I am-the Takachiyo gorges, around the crater of Mount Midoriyama-I make it a point to walk, trek, hike if I have to. The distance covered does not concern me, rather it is the amount of time spent. I am more than satisfied if I am able to walk from dawn til the late afternoon without any disturbances. I believe it makes me a healthier person. That said, it also creates a good opportunity to commune and feel one with nature. (I can describe to you just how exactly to do that, but I will have to pass since it takes up too many lines. If you are really interested however, do not hesitate to meet and find out personally from me.)

As spoken I was having my routine morning walk, when someone suddenly shouted my name from behind. Such an utter lack of manners. No one shouts my name, especially not from behind. I turned around and was about to unleash a fatal whip from my fingers, when I realized who I was facing with.

This girl, standing in the middle of the pathway, her legs slightly spread apart, her right hand holding a medium-sized block-like object, and on her face she had an expression I could not discern-she looked like she was in disbelief, amazement and horror all at the same time. (I certainly could not pull that.) Her clothes were familiar but indecent and unfashionable; the green piece of cloth around her hips barely covered her legs. And the message her stance delivered was simple: she could not care less about death.

My hand withdrew slowly by its own self.

Where have I seen this person before?

"You!" she hissed. "How do you know that?"

I tilt my head to the right. "What?"

"That song!" she hissed again. "How on earth did you know it?"

She didn't sound sane so I turned my back.

"Hello! I'm not done with you!"

The girl scampered to my side as I started walking. She was babbling non-stop at my face, seemed really determined to get my attention. I thought to myself, even the most vehement suitor will declare defeat one day. She could be no different; in fact thinking of it, she must be just another one of my plenty admirers. Since I was in good mood today, I decided to merely pretend she did not exist.

But she wouldn not shut up, could not shut up.

"That song! You were just whistling it! I heard you! I followed you all the way here! I couldn't believe my ears at first, I thought I had gone nuts and started hearing things! But then I decided to trust my guts so I tracked it all the way here! And it was you! I don't believe it! You must tell me! How do you know that song! That song you were whistling just a minute ago, but stopped short when you saw me! Please! I know you don't like me very much, but you have to tell me! Please tell me!"

She fought to keep up with my pace, jogging sideways like a crab as the words gushed out from her mouth like a waterfall.

"Come on, you gotta tell me, man! I'm sorry but I really have to know! It's like I won't die peacefully if I don't! Please please please! Just tell me okay? Just tell me?"

The girl had nice breath-smelling like a cross between mint leaves and green tea. I wonder.

"Would you stop ignoring me? I'm talking to you here, mister! I know you're great and stuff but please just answer my question! I promise I won't bother you after this! I just wanna know: how on earth did you learn that song?"

"I," I finally answered, in a cool unaffected voice, "have no idea what idea you are talking about."

"Liar! Oh goddammit! What are you trying to tell me? That you weren't singing just now? It wasn't you?

It was a hot day. She was out of breath now, huffing and puffing and her hair clung onto her damp forehead.

"Did you specifically saw me singing?" I asked her slowly as I continued walking.

"No," her voice wavered, then regained strength, "but it was you, I'm sure. It was quiet and you were the only person here. The sound was coming from you."

"Did you specifically saw me singing?" I repeated, this time placing slight pressure on my voice.

"I did not see you, because I was from the back. What does it matter whether I saw you or not? I heard you and that was it. And my senses never fail me."

And my senses never fail me. Does she think she is a claivoryant? Is she? Wait, I think I remember now who she really is.

"Just hearing something does not count as substantial proof something did happened. You should not rely on just a single sense."

"So you're saying you weren't the one singing? Even if it sounded from you, like you even?"

"The world is not as we know it; there are still many undiscovered and mysterious forces that work around us."

"Well, I have you know that I am a single prime example of that. Til now I still believe that my being here is a miracle."

"Being here, and talking to me is?"

"Nope. Just being here," she said.

I took in a few deep breaths. Within a few weeks, it is going to be autumn. One can know just by the scent of the air, and the texture. Yes, air does have texture and I do not refer to the wind or breeze. It is a whole different entity altogether. (This is just one of the things that you will learn when you are in acquaintance with Mother Nature. As I said, do not be afraid to approach me about this subject.)

"So, what is this song you were referring to?" I asked. I was hoping I did not sound too interested, or worse, friendly.

"It's...uh," the girl started, then turned to walk normally alongside with me. I got a whiff of her sweat.

She scratched her nose, trying to find the words whilst she panted.

"It's uh...a song from my world. You know, my place."

"The other side."

"Yeah. And uh, it's just weird, to hear something like that here. I mean that song is not created til five hundred years from now! I'm the only person here who knows that song, you get what I mean? So it's unbelievable, crazy even. That I'm hearing someone else sing the song here, you know? It's like putting a persimmon and a ginger root side by side, they just don't fit together and they don't make sense. You...you get what I mean?"

"Yes," I replied. "But it might just be a coincidence."

"No, no it's not!" She sounded exasperated. "I know what I heard-the exact rhythm, melody, cadence, tone, everything! It was really, really that song."

"What song?" I simply asked again.

She bit her lower lip, hesitating again. I saw how she now held the thick block-like object in her hand above her head. Ah. Her idea of a shade.

"Kyu Sakamato's Sukiyaki," she finally answered quietly. Then she looked at me, as if expecting a reaction.

I glanced away.

"Never heard of it."

She never spoke anything after that. For a long time the both of us were silent. She, lost in her own thoughts while I just kept on walking, imagining that I was alone now. I looked at every tree that passed by me. I was walking through a path trailed by big pawlonia trees-each and one of them a unique product of nature. I could spent hours looking, no, observing them if I wanted to. The dark strong and thick trunks, the leaves fanning out in branches as though trying to consume the sky. Each of the trees here were in competition, fighting individually for their needs to live here, yet they were still one. (forty-five eggs for this whole paragraph-another improvement.)

Alas the silence was shattered. The girl beside me suddenly opened her mouth and started wailing loudly to the sky at the top of her lungs. It was as if she was trying to remove her voice from her throat altogether. I was caught by surprise-her voice was terrible and in complete disregard of the tranquility I was experiencing. It took me sometime to realize that she was singing, and badly too.

"Uuueee ooo muuuuiteee...aaaaaarukouououou...namida gaaaaaaaa..."

_Ue o muite arukou Namida ga kobore naiyouni_

_Omoidasu harunohi_

_Hitoribotchi no yoru_

_I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall_

_Remembering those happy spring days_

_But tonight I'm all alone_

I stopped to watch her. She must have sung the whole song right there on the spot. At last she stopped, gasping for breath. Her object dropped to the ground. Her face all red, she bowed, pushing her hands against her knees in exhaustion perhaps and stayed there for some time. Her long hair hung down her head like a long curtain.

Then, she stood upright and collected the object.

"It was nice. Talking to you. Thank you," she whispered. She walked right past me and I continued to look at her.

Then she started to run. Her speed never once faltering, she ran off as though running for her dear life, until she disappeared in the far horizon. I squinted. The air suddenly smelt salty, like rain.

"What an odd silly girl," I said aloud. I stared some more at the distance, making sure she was really gone. She was.

I turned around and after taking several steps, got the mood back into me. The wind blew coolly onto the back of my neck, and into the insides of my sleeves. I was feeling good again.

I parted my lips slightly and started whistling the tune from where I had left it off. Only that I found myself not able to remember, so I started back from scratch. The same song the girl had been singing, and cried because she thought she was the only lone person in this world who knew it.

I know there is no turning back had I told her the truth. As I said, this world is limitlessly beyond our comprehension. This time, I whistled even louder.

And I kept on walking.

_~FIN~_


End file.
